Brighton, Monroe County, New York
Brighton is also a town in Franklin County, New York, USA.
Brighton is a
town in
Monroe County,
New York,
USA. The population was 35,588 at the 2000 census.
The Town of Brighton, located on the southeast border of the city of
Rochester, was originally settled approximately
1790, and formally established in
1814—earning it recognition as one of the oldest towns in Monroe County. Named for
Brighton, England, it remained a farming and brick-making community until the
20th century, when it began its evolution into an upscale suburban residential area, occupying some 15 square miles. In 1999, the town purchased 64 acres (259,000 m²) with the intention of developing a central park. Today, that area is Buckland Park, host to several playgrounds and sports fields, as well as easy access from the Canal Path (see below).
The area is served by the Brighton Central School District, which frequently earns high positions in
Newsweek national rankings (5th in 1998).
Brighton is governed by an elected town council, consisting of a supervisor and four town council members. The supervisor is elected to a two-year term. The council members serve four-year terms. Voters also elect two town justices and a town clerk. Town justices serve a four-year term, and the clerk is elected to a two-year term. In
2003, the voters elected
Sandra Frankel to her seventh term as supervisor. As of February,
2004, the town board consisted of
James R. Vogel,
Raymond Tierney III,
Jill Vigdor Feldman and
Sherry Krause. Unlike most other suburbs of Rochester, Brighton tends to elect mostly
Democrats to town government positions.
According to the
United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 40.5
km² (15.6
mi²). 40.0 km² (15.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (1.09%) is water.
In terms of latitude and longitude, Brighton is located at
Brighton has lacked a central village since the city of Rochester annexed the area around East Avenue and Winton Road, formerly the village of Brighton, in
1905. The central commercial and entertainment hub is the
12 Corners, so named because three intersecting roads, Winton Road, Monroe Avenue and Elmwood Avenue, define 12 distinct corners. Also, both the High School (Brighton High School) and the Middle School (Twelve Corners Middle School) are located at 12 corners. Brighton is bordered by the city of
Rochester to the northwest, the town of
Henrietta to the south, and the towns of
Pittsford and
Penfield to the east. Brighton is located some 60 miles from
Buffalo, and 90 miles from
Syracuse. The
Erie Canal courses through Brighton, accompanied by the acclaimed
Erie Canal Heritage Trail, one of the longest continuous stretches of maintained off-road trail in the United States.
As of the
census of 2000, there were 35,588 people, 15,854 households, and 8,687 families residing in the town. The
population density was 888.8/km² (2,302.5/mi²). There were 16,705 housing units at an average density of 417.2 persons/km² (1,080.8 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 86.09%
White, 3.70%
African American, 0.10%
Native American, 8.13%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 1.33% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.34% of the population.
There were 15,854 households out of which 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.9% were
married couples living together, 6.8% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 45.2% were non-families. 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $52,066, and the median income for a family was $70,436. Males had a median income of $46,292 versus $35,171 for females. The
per capita income for the town was $32,642. 6.1% of the population and 3.0% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 4.9% are under the age of 18 and 5.2% are 65 or older.
See also:
Brighton (CDP), New York*
Dana Fox—
Hollywood screenwriter,
The Wedding Date*David T. Kearns—former
Xerox CEO, former Deputy
Secretary of Education*
Kristen Wiig—
Saturday Night Live performer
*
David Diamond—composer
*
Shirley Jackson—author of
The Lottery*
Brighton town website*
Erie Canal Heritage Trail*
Brighton-Pittsford Post—local newspaper
*
Brighton Public School System—rated 11th best in the US by Newsweek
*
Brighton Town Court
